Shin No Airen
by Acradius
Summary: A Zanpakuto is meant to cleanse the sins of the monstrous Hollow spirits before sending them to peace.  Bearing that in mind, Kasumi Taki, a young Shinigami must use his Zanpakuto to kill the Hollow he loves.  OCs, 90%-95% Bleach.
1. Chapter 1

~Shin No Airen~

_Author's notes: Hey all, this is Acradius here with my first serious offering to fan fiction. Just going to go over some basics here and I'll leave you to reading. First and foremost, anything that was created by Kubo Tite, and/or appears as part of the Bleach video games, manga or anime series is copyright to the authors and publishing companies thereof. Likewise, anything created by Masashi Kishimoto, and/or appears as part of the Naruto video games, manga or anime series is copyright to the authors and publishing companies thereof. I do not claim any sort of ownership or rights to any of their products or intellectual property._

_Now, onto more upbeat things. This is categorized as a Bleach/Naruto crossover, but I feel that it's beyond pigeonholing into that exact form. Here's a brief list of what you should and shouldn't expect in the chapters of Shin No Airen. If you want to be surprised, or just get bored with my ramblings just skip to the non-italicized text._

_Expect: Lots of original characters. The story will revolve around them._

_Expect: Mostly Bleach. As in 90% to 95%. This is a crossover, but it's really more "Bleach fic with a light dusting of Naruto."_

_Expect: Spoilers. If you haven't watched the Bleach anime or read the manga, dear god go do it now. Seriously. I'll wait. ... ... ... Ok, got it? Good._

_Expect: Filler Arcs and Movies. A whole lot of people discredit the filler arcs of the anime and the movies as crud (not to mention the entire "Bleach ended after they rescued Rukia" movement). While I'll admit the fillers aren't as great as the main storyline, I enjoyed them and will be involving all of them as canon with the exception of the Zanpakuto Unknown Tales and Gotei 13 Invading Army arcs for plot purposes, and the Fade to Black movie because I haven't got around to watching it. The nice part about the fillers is that they can theoretically take place at any point in the main time line, so some things will happen in an order that makes way more sense than the anime does. This means no epic battle between Ichigo and Grimjow ending with "Stop! Filler time!"_

_Expect: Pairings. No, I'm not going to spoil them. All I'll say that some are far more obvious than others._

_Expect: Japanese naming conventions. Family names will be presented before given names (Kurosaki Ichigo, not Ichigo Kurosaki). I'll do my absolute best remembering my -sans, -samas, -donos, -senseis, -taichous, and -fuku-taichous._

_Expect: Violence. Bleach, as a manga and anime generally involves some very painful and bloody solutions to intra-character disputes. While it should be obvious that this isn't the proper method in real life or in all chapters, I really feel that you can't have Bleach without some epic fighting and possible dismemberment (note the M rating)._

_Expect: a story that runs parallel to the canon presentation. Yes, notable characters from the anime will show up, but they aren't the focal point of the fic._

_Do not expect: Ichigo and Naruto to meet, team up, and be the most awesome Jump crossover ever (you can read that sentence with like seventeen exclamation points behind it if you like). It's just not what this is about._

_Do not expect: Lemon. Or, for those of you not yet inducted into the Fan Fiction world, porn. I feel neither comfortable, nor qualified writing it._

_Do not expect: Yaoi/Yuri. Just because I said some of the pairings aren't obvious doesn't mean that I'm going to 'ship' Ishida and Chad together (or Tatsuki and Orihime, no matter how bad I want to see it too). I don't even claim to know what makes hetero couples tick, so that territory is just a bit too uncharted for me._

_Ok, that's officially enough of me rambling. I'll keep stuff short from now on if I can, and it will be mercifully hidden at the end of the chapters from now on. I sincerely hope you enjoy the ride reading this as much as I have writing it!_

* * *

><p><em>~Chapter 1~<em>

It felt strange, seeing himself in the mirror like that. Almost like the person that was staring back at him wasn't quite the same guy that rolled out of his bed an hour ago. The uniform looked alright, but as usual his hair refused to cooperate. It was cut relatively short, with a part on the left. Everything to the left of the part was combed straight back, and everything to the right was put over. The result was a professional look that was just the slightest bit different than all the other professional looks out there. Enough of a change to get noticed, but nowhere near so radical as to get him in trouble with a teacher. At least, that was the desired effect. In reality, the hair was a bit unevenly cut, and didn't stay down very well on one side, giving him a semi-permanent cowlick. If he used hair gel, it would look like a helmet, and if he didn't, it would wind up curling back up in the front, giving him a style that was reminiscent of Superman.

Kasumi Taki sighed, rather annoyed. Oh well, it wasn't like his hair was going to matter too much. Besides, with as good as the dark blue blazer looked on him, along with the traditional black slacks, he would blend in pretty well with a bunch of first-year college students, regardless of how off his hair was. In High School, Taki wouldn't have bothered getting all spruced up. He would have thrown on his dress shirt, buttoned it up to the point where he wouldn't get yelled at, and called it good. Apparently, his super-casual style wasn't enough to keep colleges from looking at his grades though.

When you had no family to pester you, and no friends to distract you, it was pretty easy to excel at school, even on top of holding down a job as a courier. The pay was good, and he was in good enough shape to get all his work done early, so that he could go home and study. He was paid by the day, and not by the hour, which was lucky. Taki's boss was also a very understanding guy, so it wasn't too surprising that Mr. Kazuo would give him an easy work load so that he could get back to cracking on his homework.

He had the day off from work today though. Mr. Kazuo decided that it was important for Taki to make a good first impression on his classmates on his first day at Chikao University. Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't. Taki's real concern was escaping there with a degree and being able to live in something more than a one-room apartment for the rest of his life. But, he supposed that it would also be rather nice to have someone to talk to, maybe even develop a romantic interest with. After all, college was where most people met their future spouses.

Girls were not something he had any sort of experience with. In fact, neither were friends, for that matter. Taki had spent the first fifteen years of his life living on a small farm up in Hokkaido. It was peaceful up there, and he would be lying if he said he didn't miss the relaxing bike rides between his home and school. As much as he enjoyed them though, they were also the primary source of solitude in his life. Nobody wants to hang out much with a guy that has two hours of pedaling between his house and anywhere else. Add in the fact that he was an only child, and you had a perfect argument for leading a very lonely young life. It wasn't all bad, of course. His parents loved him very much, and they did everything they could to try and foster all the good traits of a normal boy in him.

It must have worked, because even after their death, Taki could still consider himself a pretty decent person. Three years after the winter car accident, he had come to a sort of terms with the facts of the matter. It had taken him quite a bit of adjustment in the mean time, not only getting used to having nobody around, but also moving into the city of Karakura town, getting a job, and trying to cope with a brand new high school. That turned out to be quite the adventure. He still didn't have any good friends, mainly because as soon as school was out, it was off to running over all of creation, delivering all sorts of random packages.

In the midst of his spacing out, one of the alarms on his cell phone rang. If nothing else, living on his own had instilled a sense of organization in him. Another of his alarms had gone off an hour ago, telling him to get out of bed. The one that he was silencing right now was letting him know that he should really get going. There would be another one in fifteen minutes to remind him that if he didn't book it out the door _right now _he was going to be late.

He shook the sobering thoughts out of his head as he picked up his backpack. He about reached for his courier bag as well, until he remembered that Mr. Kazuo had given him the day off. He smiled a bit to himself as he thought of the reason his boss didn't want him working today. _"Alright Mr. Kazuo, I'll give it my best shot."_

* * *

><p>The frantic hustle-and-bustle of a Karakura town train ride was a far cry from a peaceful, if exhausting bike ride through the steep hillsides. Yet the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. For every flower that he would have passed on the path, and wished he had the time to stop and smell, there was a pretty girl on the train or in the station that he wished he had time to stop and chat with. For every pot hole in the worn-out road, there was a grumpy businessman that he would have to dodge around in a similar manner. Twenty minutes of squeaking metal-on-metal and the smells of fresh coffee and newspapers (not to mention the occasional unsavory odor of the stations themselves), Taki found himself staring at the wrought-iron gates of Chikao University, which were flung wide, inviting new and returning students in.<p>

His homeroom was in the newest building on the sprawling campus, named Sasuga Hall. It was a modern structure, sticking out like a sore thumb from the old, ivy-ridden brick buildings that Chikao University was famous for. This building was painted somewhere between cream and eggshell, and had large, glass windows on every floor. In other words, it was almost an exact duplicate of a Japanese public high school. Even the roof had a fence on top, indicating that students were allowed up there when the weather was nice.

Proceeding through the glass doors, Taki became a single, dark-blue and black drop in an ocean of students. Similar, homogenized, unified in the chaos that came with adapting to a new surrounding. Everyone was unique in their own ways, however. This girl had her obsidian hair in twin, curly pig-tails, that guy had a uniform that was obviously a size too small, this one was trying to be a rebel by not tucking his shirt in, and that one was peeking shyly around a corner at him. It was an interesting study of the college culture, all wrapped into a five-minute walk through the hallways and up the stairs.

Room 250: Taki's destination. With a deep, fortifying breath, he gallantly strode through the portal to his future. Everything in the standard-sized classroom emanated a sense of newness, the wood-tone desks, the teal chalkboard and the ivory chalk. If there was such a thing as 'new school smell', they could have canned it in this very place. Noting the fact that there were no assigned seats at the moment, Taki availed himself of a seat near the rear of the classroom, just next to the window. Sometimes it helped him concentrate when he could just glance to his left and see the weather. Sure, sometimes it was a distraction, but for the most part, it just seemed to calm him down just enough to get the perfect amount of focus.

Soon, the desks were filled with all manner of students, from studious types like himself, to people who obviously had their way paid by successful parents, to people who were here possibly by chance or good fortune, and trying as hard as they could not to mess it up. Some of the girls were quite cute, many of them quite shy. There were a trio of ganguro girls, with dark, tanned skin and dyed blond hair. Those who joined that particular culture were quite infamous for having poor grades, and being involved in all sorts of trouble. Whether it was true or not, Taki would just have to find out.

"Alright class, settle into a seat and let's get down to business." The source of the feminine voice came from the front of the room. Taki could have sworn that he didn't notice the door opening and closing, but perhaps there was simply that much background noise. His teacher was a few years older than he was, perhaps in her late twenties, thirty at the absolute maximum. She, unlike her students, didn't have to obey a dress code. Her outfit consisted of high heels, stockings, and a modest brown skirt that hung well past her knees. Above that, she had on a loose white blouse that was long-sleeved, despite how hot it could get these April days. Her deep brown eyes were hidden behind a pair of thin, rectangular glasses, and her similarly-colored hair was done up in a loose bun, with a few strands hanging down and framing her face. In short, she was the perfect dream of one of those guys that had fantasies about their teachers. One thing seemed out of place, however. In spite of her completely traditional dress, she sported a single earring on her right ear. It hung down about half an inch, and seemed to be made out of bright blue, black, and white plastic. It was obvious that there was a design on it, but from his vantage point near the back of the room, it was difficult for Taki to make out what it was.

After a few moments more of shifting and murmuring, everybody had a seat picked out. True to form, there wasn't a single seat left open. Typical efficiency. Looking over the classroom, the teacher smiled. Despite her young appearance, it seemed she had done this sort of thing before.

"Is everybody seated? Good. I'd like to take a role call first to make sure everyone is in the right room, and we'll go onto orientation from there." The list went smoothly, missing not a single person. Even the people in the room that didn't look like they were going to be here long were at least attentive. When Taki's name was called, he gave the same crisp answer as everyone else. "Ok, everyone's where they're supposed to be. A good start to the year, wouldn't you agree?" She smiled, even though she didn't get a response. Four years of high school had taught all the students to keep their heads down unless they were directly called upon. "My name is Hisano Tomoyo, and you can all just call me Hisano-sensei until we get to know each other better. I've been teaching college-level English for three years now, and this is my first semester here. So, on behalf of Chikao University, I'd like to welcome you all here. Everyone in this class is a first-year student with no college experience to speak of, so if you want to talk to people at about the same level as you, your Homeroom is a good place to start. Now, I should let you all know that Homeroom is not a class. You don't have to come here unless you want to. Some students find that it's a good place to meet people, however, and if you're a bit behind on your homework for the day, it's a little bit extra time to catch up on things."

That explained a few things Taki was wondering about. Most of the time, colleges didn't have a Homeroom. People were just expected to keep up on their own. It seemed that this one offered an optional one for students to attend if they needed to catch up. It also provided a little bit of camaraderie in a totally new environment. A lot of the faces in the desks were nervous ones. Many had friends stretching as far back as elementary school last year, and now they were back to square one when it came to meeting people.

"Now, in order to help you all meet some of your classmates and learn the campus grounds, the school has decided to plan out a little game." Bending down behind her desk, she produced one large box, followed by three smaller boxes. The large one was unopened cardboard, with a 'This Side Up' arrow pointed defiantly earthwards. The other three were shoe boxes with brightly colored wrapping paper decorating the sides. It seemed Hisano-sensei had a bit of an artistic streak. Either that or she originally wanted to be an elementary school teacher. "Ok, now I want you to all come up here. Take a Student Handbook out of this box here," she said while expertly sliding her fingernail under the larger box's tape, "and then choose either a schedule sheet, a box of markers, or a map of the campus from one of these boxes here."

The line moved slowly at first, but eventually everyone was out of their seats and grabbing the books and equipment. Being nearer the back of the room, the pickings were pretty slim by the time Taki reached the desk. He grabbed one of the few maps along with his handbook. While he was up nearer the teacher, he made it a point to get a closer look at her earring. Now that he could observe it better, it seemed even farther out of place for her almost 1930s schoolmarm ensemble. It was an elongated white skull with black and blue flames backgrounding it. On a younger girl dressed in a modern outfit, it might have been fashionable, but even to Taki's completely untrained eye, it was the very definition of clashing.

"Problems, Kasumi-san?" The teacher's voice snapped him out of his daze.

"Oh, um... no problems Hisano-sensei." He must have looked pathetic zoning out like that on the first day of class. _"Just what I need: the reputation of being a total hair-brain."_ He shook his head and walked back to his seat, carefully glancing over the rest of the room. It seemed nobody noticed his faux pas. Either that or they forgave him because it was everyone's first day.

After Taki and the rest of the students were seated again, Hisano-sensei launched back into her speech about the game. "If you turn over whatever object you got, either the map, the markers, or the schedule, you'll see a number. That's the number of the group you're going to be in. Everyone is in groups of three, so you can get to know a few of your classmates." Turning the map over, there was a number '4' circled on the back of Taki's the traditional red ink of a teacher.

"So here are the rules: each schedule has enough for all of your classes on it, and one landmark of the college. Once you get into your groups, you need to fill out everyone's classrooms on the schedule. You'll also see there's a box next to each classroom. Today, every room on the campus will have something like this up here in the top right corner of the blackboard." Upon saying so, she produced a piece of red chalk and drew the letter 'L' near the top right corner. "This is a bit like a scavenger hunt. You need to go to all the classrooms in your group and use the markers to note down the right color and letter in all the rooms, plus go see the landmark. This way, you'll learn where your classes are before you have to get to them, and you'll get to know a little bit more about the college campus." She looked around the room. "Any questions? This isn't an assignment, but it will really help you out." A pause, nobody's hand shot up. "Alright, I hope to see you all around throughout the year! Go ahead and get into your groups!"

Hisano-sensei leaned against her desk and smiled as the students milled about the classroom. Taki slipped his handbook inside his heavy backpack and shouldered it. Looking around, it wasn't hard to spot where group four was meeting. There was a giant, rock-solid wall of 'dude' over there, with his arms out and one hand sticking up four fingers. He looked Japanese, just like everybody else, except for his sheer size and build. He could have given Americans a run for their money in just about every physical category. Wider than a linebacker, taller than a basket ball player, and more heavily muscled than a professional weightlifter. His dark brown eyes were stone cold. He would have looked like Atlas holding the world if it weren't for his hairstyle. Atop his slightly pointed features rested a black, gelled anachronism: a perfectly-crafted pompadour. Its fluffy mass spiraled straight off his forehead like a boom microphone, ending a full four inches from where it began. Taki had to force himself to stop from staring at the magnificent creation as he thought, _"Did he actually __**do **__that for the first day of school? He's out of his mind! There's no way people will respect him with that thing, no matter how big he is!"_

The giant spoke to him in a voice that made Mr. T sound like he hadn't hit puberty yet. "Yo. You in group four?"

Taki gulped and tried not to ask him 'who says 'yo' anymore?' "Uh yeah, that's me. Group four. Kasumi Taki, pleased to meet you." He extended his hand and immediately wished he didn't. The rock crusher attached to an industrial pile driver reached out and shook it. Even though Taki's hand didn't break, it probably wished it could have.

"Oda Daishiro. Got the markers right here."

"Markers?" There was something downright comical about an enormous compilation of muscle like that using the brightly colored sticks in the box. "Right, and I've got the map. So who's got the schedule?"

Wordlessly, Daishiro pointed a finger the width of a young sapling across the crowd of students. Taki didn't immediately see anybody, but then again, he was at quite a different vantage point. And that's when the third member of their group slid through a gap between two others.

If Daishiro was a weightlifter-football-basketball-tank, then she was the polar opposite. She was a full foot shorter than Taki, maybe even more. Slim and petite were the words describing her body style. Just barely on the healthy side of anorexia. She had a kind of deer-in-the-headlights look about her, almost like college was just one gigantic case of information overload. The way she was carrying the schedule, Taki could spot the circled '4' on the back of it. He waved to her. Once she caught on, she quickened her pace, her black skirt flowing behind in her wake. _"Looks like this isn't such a bad group after all. She's pretty cute."_ Her raven black hair was done up in a couple of loose, loopy pigtail-like formations, with a few pearl-like pieces keeping them in check.

She came right up to the two of them and gave a polite bow, which Taki returned almost automatically. "Hello. I am Feng Xia. I am pleased to meet you." Her Japanese was a little fractured, and the accent was off.

Daishiro looked a little confused at first, but Taki picked up on it right away. "Feng Xia? That's a Chinese name, right?"

She nodded. "Yes. I am an exchange student from Heifei. I hope my Japanese does not get in the way."

Taki understood her just fine. He glanced up at Daishiro, who nodded. The big guy seemed a little redder than when they first met. It looked like Taki wasn't the only one who thought she was cute. Looking back at his tiny new comrade, Taki reassured her. "Don't worry. Your Japanese seems very good to me." She nodded, giving a slight smile.

"Ok then. I have the schedule, so what classes are you two taking?" Xia sat down at a nearby desk and broke out a pencil. Taki did the same with the map and a copy of his own schedule which he produced from his bookbag. Daishiro pulled out a folded-up version of the same from his pocket. It wasn't long at all before the places to go were decided. Using the map, Taki plotted out the way to loop around the campus so that they would do the least backtracking, and ending at the Daichi Building where their assigned landmark was.

* * *

><p>"Green Q, got it." Daishiro squeaked the comparatively tiny marker down on the schedule. So far they had hit all of Xia's classes and half of Taki's. "Next is Toshi Hall, 121."<p>

"That is your first class, right Daishiro-san?" Xia asked as she followed behind the mountain. His pompadour gave a single bob as he turned around and gave a silent nod. Most of their journey so far had been fairly silent, with only a few comments here and there from Xia and Taki. It seemed Daishiro was a very quiet man. They were exiting the new Sasuga Hall for the first time, and it was going to be a fairly long walk to the other side of the campus. Silence for that long would just be uncomfortable.

As the trio exited into the bright sunlight of the still-crisp April morning, Daishiro produced from his pocket a pair of dark sunglasses. Now the image of the 1980s-era rebel was nearly complete. All that was required was the leather jacket. Xia crossed her arms a bit tightly around her chest. Evidently it was a bit warmer in Heifei. Taki thought it would be a smart choice to learn a little bit more about these two. Since he knew both Daishiro and he were interested in Xia, he felt she should be the first one asked about her reasons for being here. "So, Xia-san, what are you majoring in here at Chikao U?"

She seemed to run the question through her mental translator before answering. "I have not decided on a major yet. I will not graduate from here though. When I go back to China, I will go back to the Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine."

That elicited a questioning look from Taki. "Traditional Chinese Medicine? That seems like an interesting college. Why did you pick that one?"

Xia gave a faint smile and looked down a little. "My mother works there as a professor in the Integration school. It is where people learn to use traditional methods combined with modern technology and western methods."

Daishiro smiled. Despite his enormous presence and his angular features, it was quite a bit warmer of a gesture than would be expected. He was still silent though.

They came to Toshi Hall, which was a slightly smaller building than many of the rest. Being made of brick like the vast majority of the campus, its one defining feature was that it had a bas-relief mural carved into the red stone itself. It depicted a blasted and barren wasteland with burnt trees and naked earth. Standing to the left was a man brandishing a paintbrush as though it were a weapon. Shooting out of the paintbrush was a cone of creation. Everything it touched sprang to beautiful life as the stars themselves looked on in wonder at the man's art. It must have been one of the landmarks on the scavenger hunt, as there were a couple groups gathered around it. Like a juggernaut storming the gates of a grand fortress, Daishiro spread the doors wide on his entry and took a deep breath. The faint aromas of fresh clay and musty old paper escaped from the building. Two of the big man's classes were in here, and within a few minutes, they had retrieved the twin treasures they were looking for: a yellow 'T' and a blue 'K'.

As they exited the building, Xia made the observation first. "Daishiro-san, are you an art major?" As she asked, her face lit up with an amused smile.

Turning a shade of red that must have made the bricks behind them jealous, the giant man nodded. With that sub-woofer voice, he made the quiet comment. "I'm lucky to be here really. Half of it is a football scholarship, and half of it is my dad's money."

As they all marched to Keitaro Hall, the light bulb clicked on in Taki's head. "Your dad's money? Wait, are you saying your father is Oda Yuuta?" That was a relatively remarkable claim. Oda Yuuta, owner of Oda Shipping Enterprises was the president of a business that could almost be called one of the almost-mythical mega-corporations.

With speed that seemed impossible for Daishiro's size, Taki found a giant paw over his mouth. The pompadour was now at eye level with his enormous teammate crouching down. Daishiro had a finger to his lips with his other hand, turning that brick red again. "Shhhhhhhh."

Startled by the sudden movement, Taki gave a muffled nod. Evidently, the big man had his reasons for not wanting his family history known.

They pillaged Keitaro Hall of its purple 'F', white 'R', and orange 'I'. At last, they were ready to head to the Daichi Building. They were nearly there when Daishiro stuck a meaty finger into Taki's shoulder. "Hey. Your turn."

He smiled shyly. Another of his weak points was talking about himself. "What can I say? I'm a business major from Hokkaido with a job as a delivery guy. I live in an apartment by myself, and I'm here on a couple scholarships."

Xia gave him a curious look. "Why do you live by yourself?"

Taki had quite a few reasons to regret his parents' deaths, but this was one of them. It was probably the end of their little friendship here, because as soon as people knew his orphan status, they seemed to grow just as distant as they were back in high school. Oh well. It was nice getting to know some people. He gave a sigh and a faint smile. "Well, the rest of my family is gone, sadly. Car accident up in the mountains."

There it was, that uncomfortable pause. Daishiro and Xia exchanged a glance, and with one other gesture, endeared the both of them to Taki forever. They shrugged. It blew his mind. Was the stigma of being an orphan actually dropped once you reach college level? Or did they not particularly care what his family status was? It could just be them being cold and insensitive, but something made Taki doubt that. There was no fake smile, no 'I'm sorry for your loss' speech. It just seemed to not matter all that much. He smirked all the way to the Daichi building. College was definitely looking up.

He opened the doors to the old brick building, the largest on campus. It rolled languages, history, and theater up all into one building. It was the stage itself that they were assigned to scope out. It was for good reason too. Apparently, it was an original structure here on campus, and was grandfathered into a lot of the new codes and regulations. The doors to the stage were arched, oak things, and it took Taki a heavy tug to pull open the portal to the room that would change him forever.


	2. Chapter 2

The theater lights were on their lowest setting. Only two sources of illumination graced the enormous room. One single, dim bulb out in the audience setting provided just barely enough to ensure nobody was going to break their neck going over a row of folding seats, and the other was a decidedly brighter light coming from the left side of the stage. That one must have admirably lit its own little area, but as there was a thick curtain between it and the rest of the stage, it did little to show anything outside of it. As the doors closed behind Taki, Xia, and Daishiro with a loose clatter, the giant art major extended an arm that looked like it was used to fell great redwoods and delicately flipped on a light switch.

A low buzz began emanating from the old bulbs, and the array of lights began putting out a minimal amount of light. They must have been the same type as were commonly used in gymnasiums. Sure enough, a few seconds later, they flickered to their full, bright orange-yellow selves, and the trio got their first good look at the Daichi building's theater.

The folding seats looked like they were brown-painted brass, and they were covered with a dark blue, carpet-like cloth that must have contained some sort of foam cushion. They were the only ones in the theater, and judging by the lighting situation, they must have been the only team given the old room as a landmark on their orientation scavenger hunt. The place smelled of dust, obviously it wasn't used very often. The walls were covered with an odd sort of wood paneling: inch-thick boards that stuck out about three inches total, and spaced an inch apart. It must have done something for acoustics or noise cancellation or something, because Taki certainly couldn't fathom it being done either for style or for ease of cleaning.

Walking down the sloped cement floor of the right-hand aisle, they could see that the seats were numbered up to seventy, and there were twenty-five rows, making this a relatively large theater sitting just shy of eighteen-hundred people. As they approached the stage, it had the same look of dilapidation as the rest of the room. The thick curtains looked like they were made from a triple-weave of the same fabric covering the seats (which turned out to be a slightly softer burlap). As Taki investigated the stage itself, he heard two horrific squeaks behind him as Daishiro and Xia took front-and-center. Obviously, the seats were overdue for some grease. He placed both arms to the sides with his back facing the slightly outwards-curving stage, and pushed himself up to a sitting position. The floor looked like it was that of an old gymnasium's, but with about an inch of sealant on it. Surprisingly, it was dust-free. Someone had taken care of it. He pulled his legs up onto the stage, stood up, and began idly meandering.

"So this is a Japanese theater." Xia commented. "Somehow I imagined it would be a bit different, but it is just like the one back in my hometown. A little bit bigger, I guess." She looked up as though some sort of validation of her claim were floating in the air somewhere in the catwalks between the lights.

Taki smirked and said "Maybe back in the day, it would have been something like a Noh or Kabuki theater, but now I think a stage is just a stage. I mean, it's old, but it's not that old. When did the guidebook say it was constructed, the Sixties?"

Daishiro made a disapproving puff. "What a boring thing for an actor to say, Taki-san." He grinned mischievously and peered at the slender man from behind his pitch-black sunglasses that he was still wearing.

Shooting him an arched eyebrow, he retorted. "Actor? Me?"

"Well, you are standing on a stage." Xia caught on quickly for Japanese being her second language. Taki immediately saw that these two were going to be trouble all the way, the towering, lumberjack-like Oda Daishiro, and the petite China-doll that was Feng Xia.

Kasumi Taki smiled to himself and rolled his eyes, half in exasperation, half trying to search his brain for words that he knew were there somewhere. He dropped his arms to his sides and bowed only his head straight down. When he came up, it was with a breath to fill the whole of his lungs and blurted out:

"To be, or not to be: that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; to sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause."

By the time he was done, he had wound up with his left foot forward, his right arm hanging in front of his chest and his left outstretched. It wasn't a leap of the imagination to see the iconic Skull that he would have been cradling in it.

A very taken-aback couple in the front row applauded, and Taki took an elaborate bow. However, that was not the only place that applause originated from. Coming from his right, where the other light had been on this whole time, someone else was clapping. Turning to look, it was Taki's turn to have the wind taken out of his lungs by something.

She was quite a pretty something at that. Between this new girl and Feng Xia, college was looking to be a great experience, if only for the number of cute girls he was meeting. She was just slightly shorter than he was, and way, way out of dress code. Instead of the traditional dark blue blazer and black skirt of the school's girl uniform, she was casual to the max. An oversized black beret adorned her head, and a matching-color blouse hid under an open, light brown, sleeveless jacket. She was wearing cut-off jeans (although tear-off would have been a more appropriate term) and shoes that matched the jacket. Peering out from under the poofy hat was straight brown hair, a single pink star of a hair clip, two room-illuminating blue eyes and a smile that could knock out a heavyweight boxing champion.

Once the clapping stopped, she introduced herself. "Sada Mariko. Looks like the school's theater troupe has its newest recruit this year, although I think you would probably make a better Romeo than Hamlet."

Blushing slightly, Taki absently scratched the back of his head with his right hand. "Well, I had a lot of time for reading back in high school. Kasumi Taki. And those two are Feng Xia," Xia stood up and politely bowed, which Mariko also automatically returned, "and Oda Daishiro." Daishiro simply gave a ham-handed, two-fingered salute, while quietly booming "Yo," again.

The beret-adorned girl gave a perfect curtsey, "Pleased to meet you three," and the immediately wheeled on the blue-vested figure on stage. "Hey wait a minute, isn't Taki a girl's name, Romeo?" she asked teasingly.

Xia took a couple of seconds to run through her mental translator, then covered her mouth with both hands, stifling a chortle. Daishiro grinned and commented, sticking a thick finger at him "Maybe he should play Juliet."

Taki had been down this road before, hundreds of times, and he rolled his eyes in a _'here we go again'_ because that's exactly what was going through his head. "Hey now, the name's unisex. Plus it means Waterfall, which is cool and inspiring," he put on the biggest, most prideful fake smile he could manage, placing his hands on his hips and thrusting out his chest "just like me, right?"

That got all three of them laughing, even the stoic, silent Daishiro gave a chuckle that sounded like distant carpet bombing, while Xia tittered daintily and Mariko just straight-up laughed. Once the ice was completely broken around them all, Taki finally got to ask the burning question of the moment. "So Mariko-san, what do you do here? I hope you're not a student dressed like that on Orientation Day, you'll catch hell from any teacher who sees you."

"Ha!" she laughed with an 'as if' attitude. "No way, I wouldn't be caught dead in such a stuffy outfit. I'm sort of a stage hand that volunteers at the school. Mostly, I take care of the toolbox here. Want to see?"

"Uh, sure." Taki's response was unsure, but why not? He followed the bright girl as Daishiro and Xia took the stairs up the left side of the stage to join them. Behind the thick curtain, where the light had been shining from, was a small, cobbled-together room. The door was a thin, unvarnished wood, and the walls looked like they were hastily erected from plywood, and a single naked bulb was shining brightly within, dangling precariously from what seemed to be a light bulb socket plugged into an extension cord.

"Attend, ye peasants!" Mariko jokingly introduced, spreading her hands as though she was putting a world-famous art exhibit on display. "Welcome to the kingdom mine." The term "Toolbox" was actually quite appropriate. On the inside of the plywood were bare beams, with pegboards hanging off them. Loosely mounted on those were all manner of hammers, saws, drills and screwdrivers. On two counters near the front of the oversized closet were small fruit jars containing nails, screws, bolts, nuts, and the like. The drawers were labeled "Brushes" and "Misc", while the cupboard doors were marked "Paint Cans" and "Spray Paint". In the deeper recesses of the room the forms of stacked sawhorses and a shop-vac could be seen lurking, along with a rusty metal cabinet on wheels that looked like it would have held a wrench set, had the counter's top not been occupied with it.

Xia poked just her head in, while keeping her hands firmly at the center of her body, apprehensive on the topic of disturbing the room's sense of order. "Wow Mariko-san, so this is what you are in charge of?"

This time it was Mariko's turn to stick her chest out with pride. "Yup! Right now I'm just finishing up on inventory. Fortunately, nothing went missing over the summer. Occasionally some janitor will 'borrow' something from my little toolbox here and not return it, but with the new building going up over the summer, I think they got most of their tools from the construction site."

"Mariko-san..." Daishiro gently rumbled, "What's that mean?" He pointed at a small bit of what looked like graffiti that was carved into one of the beams on the wall, up above the pegboards, near the ceiling. It was heart-shaped, and in the middle of it were the English letters R.I.P., and directly under them, was M.S.

"Oh that's right, you guys are on orientation, so it's your first day here. I bet you haven't heard the stories yet." Mischief and a little bit of unnerving sadism lit up Mariko's face, as she began to act like the people she maintained tools for. "You don't know that this place is haunted yet!"

Taki crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Every school in Karakura has a dozen of these tales, I'm sure. I know my high school did. Daishiro-san, how about yours?" The pompadour bobbed once in affirmation. "See? Don't tell me you believe that kind of thing Mariko-san."

She grinned. "Well, you know what they say on TV, Taki-san." Mariko crossed her arms, bringing her hands to the opposite shoulders in clawing shapes, as she loudly exclaimed, "Spirits! Are! Everywhere! BWA HA HA HA!" The young girl was of course referring to the 'sensational' new TV show starring the horrifically flamboyant Don Kanonji, where he would travel around to supposedly haunted, often-times legitimately creepy places and pretend to fight ghosts in front of a live studio audience. There was a showing scheduled to come to an old hospital in Karakura in a couple months. Surprisingly, Mr Kazuo, Taki's boss at his courier job, was a pretty big fan.

Xia might not have understood the joke, but she lightly giggled anyway. Taki's hand went straight to his forehead as he groaned, "Oh you have got to be kidding me. Alright, I'll bite. Who's M.S.?"

There went that good-humored, yet sadistic smile, right across Mariko's face again. "Ooh, I see the supernatural has gained another fan today. Ok, so the story goes like this. There used to be an American boy in school here as one of the university's exchange students back in the sixties. Nobody knows his real name, but judging from the initials, everybody just refers to him as Mark Smith. He was a theater major, and got involved in acting here at Chikao University. Supposedly, he fell in love with a Japanese girl here. At the end of his studies here, he petitioned the government to let him live here in Japan so he could be with her. The officials said they had no interest in an American that majored in theater instead of something useful like business, or law, or medicine. They declined his petition, and told him to leave immediately. So that night, he came to this very theater, on this very stage, and he said his goodbyes to the girl he loved. She left in tears, but instead of him going back to America..." Mariko peered out of the toolbox and pointed at the catwalks in the rear-right corner of the room. "He went right up there, and..." In one swift action, she spun to face her audience as she jerked her right hand above her head in a fist. At the same time, she made her whole body spasm and lolled her head to the side, eyes rolled back and tongue hanging out.

There was a moment of quiet appreciation as there always is when a good ghost story comes to a close. Taki was the first to act, as he started a slow, steady clap. The others joined in, and soon Mariko came down from her noose to take a curtsey.

"That was very good Mariko-san!" Xia said, while Taki nodded his approval and Daishiro offered a thumbs-up.

Wanting very much to be in Mariko's corner, Taki grinned as he said, "Definitely better than my Shakespeare."

Obviously enjoying this, the young woman with the black beret tried as best as she could to display some humility. "Well, I'm just telling it like I heard it. Besides, everybody loves the classics, Romeo."

Taki just sheepishly grinned. It was officially the greatest day of his life thus far. Two cute girls as his company that didn't think he was a freak for having no family. Technically Mariko didn't know about that yet, but why should he stop now when he was on a roll? He had a bit of money saved up from his latest paycheck, and what better way to use it than to celebrate the start of a new year and the meeting of new friends? "Well, you know what else everybody loves Mariko-san?"

"What?"

"Ice cream." Everyone gave him an odd look until he followed up with, "My treat. I know a great place not too far away from the train station just south of the school, it shouldn't take more than ten minutes to walk there. What do you guys say?"

"Sure." was the monosyllabic answer from Daishiro, and this time Xia was the quiet one with a single nod of the head.

Taki looked to Mariko, who smiled and shook her head. "Not this time Romeo, sorry. After inventory is done, I have to head over to the theater department and get a list of all the plays they'll be doing this semester. Once I've got that, I can start setting aside props and costumes for the right themes and time periods. The theater classes have access to the same props and we don't need the ones the plays will be using to get damaged before hand. It's ok though, because I know you'll all be back here for lunch tomorrow, right?"

All three of the other students looked at each other. While many of the classes at the college were simply scheduled at whatever time the teacher and the room were free and you showed up whenever they were being held, the school did have a common lunch time for the students who loaded their schedule full to bursting. All three of them nodded almost simultaneously.

Mariko gave a thumbs-up. "Ok! As of this day, we're now the Daichi Theater Lunch Group!"

"Wha-? Hold on, don't go naming us something like that without taking a vote or something!" Was Taki's immediate reply.

"Nope! Sorry, the Daichi Theater Lunch Group is a dictatorship with a cruel and selfish queen, but the peasants have fallen so enraptured with her beauty that they could not possibly stage a revolution! Now quick, be off with ye peasants! The queen must finish her royal duties quickly so she doesn't miss her charming prince Don Kanonji's show after school!" With that, Mariko gave them a brushing off motion with her hand while acting as haughty and stuck-up as possible. The reaction was just a shared smirk and a couple chortles all-around.

Sarcastically, Taki took an elaborate bow and gave an overly-dramatic "Yes, of course my queen! We shall gladly divide your portion of the ice cream amongst your most loyal servants!" He stood up with a smile. "Lunch tomorrow then. Come on guys, I've got cookies and cream with my name all over it."

* * *

><p>After a short walk that included a discussion about the merits of various ice cream flavors, which ones were traditional, and which ones were so traditional they were boring (not to mention an interesting treatise on the differences between Japanese ice cream and Chinese ice cream) the trio arrived at their destination for dessert. It was beginning to get hot out this time of year, and it looked like the store was doing well because of it. There were quite a few students from the university that were enjoying a cold treat, and Taki could recognize a couple faces from his class, although he hadn't paid enough attention during role call to remember their names. One was a tall, very lanky young man with his nose buried in a book, and the Ganguro triplets were there too.<p>

The line, thankfully, had dwindled down by the time they reached the shop. It seemed their conversation with Mariko had delayed them just the right amount of time that they fell in after the rest of the rush of first-year students finishing up their orientation game. It wasn't long at all before Taki had lightened his wallet for the cost of a double-scoop of Cookies and Cream in a bowl, a single shot of rainbow sherbet in a waffle cone for Xia, and a bizarre concoction of wasabi-and-coconut malt for Daishiro. Upon the twin surprised glances he got, he just adjusted his sunglasses and said "It does wonders for your sinuses."

There was scarce sitting space available in the small parlor, but they managed to find a seat near the windows. To maximize the seating area the shop could hold, the counter was stuck in one corner of the room, with the customer's seats wrapping around it in an L-shape. From their viewpoint, they basically could see the entire restaurant.

And so, over frozen dairy product that was packed full of far too much sugar and preservatives to possibly be healthy, the trio got to know each other. It was easier than Taki imagined it would be, making friends like this. As Daishiro and Xia got onto a tangent about why Americans call Football Soccer (and why they have a separate sport they called Football when it had much less to do with kicking a ball with your foot than throwing an egg with your hands) Taki scanned the room absently.

That's when he saw someone that worried him a little bit. He was extremely tall, even taller than Daishiro. He was also even wider than the trio's gentle giant. That being odd enough, his manner of dress was way, way off for this time of year, and seemed to care even less for conventional fashion sense than a certain pompadour-and-sunglasses combination that Taki knew of. The man was dressed in a full trench coat that made him appear right out of a 1930s detective movie. He wore a pair of sunglasses, and what seemed to be a turtleneck shirt underneath, with the neckline pulled up over his mouth and nose. He covered his head with a fedora. His pants were the exact same light tan as his coat, and he had a very odd gait to his step. It was almost like his torso extended all the way down to where his knees should be.

More than a little unnerved, Taki nudged Daishiro's leg under the table with his foot. Once he had the large guy's attention, he cast a meaningful glance at the figure clad in a trench coat. The 80s rebel grimaced, but kept talking like nothing was out of place. He slowly reached over and placed his hand on Xia's shoulder, and pulled her a little closer. Xia looked like she was about to protest this sudden contact, but Daishiro winked at her from behind those dark shades, and ever-so-slightly nodded his head at the strange man. The petit girl understood then. If that person was looking for any sort of trouble that had to do with girls, he would see that Xia was 'with' Daishiro, someone almost as intimidatingly large as himself.

Interestingly enough, nobody but the trio in the corner seemed to notice the towering man as he crept through the brightly-lit ice cream parlor. He was looking at every patron in an odd way. _He's dressed like a detective. Maybe he's looking for someone?_ Taki thought. He tried to put the weirdo out of his mind and got back to the conversation at hand (which had moved on to whether or not mounted archery would ever make it into the Olympics). The hairs on the back of Taki's neck stood at rigid attention as he felt the enormous man behind him, boring his gaze into him. He gripped the sticky spoon in his cookies and cream a little harder. He noticed Xia pale a bit in complexion, and Daishiro furrowed his brow. Then, as soon as he felt that oppressive glare from the stranger, it was gone, and he heard the large figure turn the corner and continue stalking through the shop.

The odd man's attention elsewhere, all three of them relaxed a bit. Taki polished off the last couple bites of his ice cream, and stood up to throw the paper bowl away. As he did, however, he saw a scene play out in a way that really irritated him.

The ganguro triplets from their class had taken a seat in the very corner of the room, and the man in the trench coat had approached them. All three of them were glaring at him as though the combined disgust in their eyes would be enough to boil such a weird figure away. The rest of the customers again paid no notice to him at all. That's when the large figure first spoke.

"Mmmhmmm." His voice was very strange. Instead of a thunderclap like Daishiro, he sounded like Yoda with a head cold. "I like that look in your eyes, pretty girls. Maybe I should show you something good in return." With that, he reached up and began unbuttoning his trench coat from the top.

"Daishiro-san," Taki said, never letting his eyes off the freak, "are you as sick of this guy as I am?" He heard his large new friend stand up behind him, and Xia got to her feet as well.

"Yeah. I sure am." He cracked his knuckles and it sounded like someone felling a tree. "Do you know how to fight, Taki-san?"

"Not really." He grimaced. He had been fortunate enough that he never had to, and hadn't really bothered learning. He was in shape, but not from any sort of martial arts training.

"Ok. I'll take him then. Back me up if I need it, but your first job is to make sure those girls get to safety. How about you Xia-san?"

She shrunk back. "I… do not know how to fight at all."

"That's alright. Go ahead and take the girls outside once Taki gets them out of the corner. Ready, Taki-san?"

"Ready." He grimaced and balled up his fists.

"Ok." Standing at his full height, Daishiro stuck a gigantic finger at the offensive man, and bellowed a challenge at him. "Hey! Leave them alone, freakshow!"

The ice cream parlor went dead silent. All eyes were on one pissed-off pompadour. Yet again, nobody paid any attention to the weird trench coat-wearing man. He slowly turned, and with his coat half-way unbuttoned, Taki spotted some sort of white object grafted to his chest. He said, in his raspy falsetto voice, "Calm down, kid. You three and these girls are the only ones here who can see me. I wasn't sure about you three until now, but it seems you'll be delicious too.

Acting every bit like the Yakuza thug that he appeared like, Daishiro sneered as he took a few steps to the right. There wasn't much room to maneuver in here, but he easily lifted one foot up onto another customer's table, scaring him right out of his seat and out the door. "I don't care who can and can't see you. All I know is, I see you just fine, and I hate how your face looks, so I'm here to break it for you."

"Hmm! You're one punk of a kid, aren't you? But you're way out of your league here." The tall guy echoed Daishiro's movement, going closer to one side of the parlor. _Perfect diversion._ Taki thought. On the left side of the room, he caught the attention of one of the girls behind the large figure, and motioned for them to move out around him. They got the idea.

Quickly, they darted to the side of the towering man. Two of them got away. Before the third one could get clear, a giant hand grabbed her by the scruff of her school uniform. She screamed as she was lifted clean off the ground. That was cue enough for the rest of the customers to clear out. In the chaos, the two other ganguros managed to stick around. "Himeko!" One of them shouted.

"Aah, so that's your name, hmm?" said the freak. "It sounds delicious, I don't think I've ever eaten a Himeko before."

That was when Daishiro rushed him. "You don't have time to look away!"

The fight was on. Daishiro started with an enormous haymaker. It connected solidly with the large man's jaw. The blow was enough to stagger him, and knocked the hat and sunglasses clean off his head. That's when Taki decided to join in. He came in low, and delivered as hard of an uppercut as he could manage right to the big guy's armpit. "Argh, two at once, eh?" Came the man's reply. "Shame, it looks like I'll need all my hands for this."

At that, he let the Himeko girl go, who ran to join her friends. Xia joined the huddle and they all made it out the door together. Finally, Daishiro was alone with his opponent, and Taki was there as his backup. This guy just seemed to get weirder by the minute. Without the hat and sunglasses, Taki could tell this man did not have anything resembling a normal head. It looked a bit like he had pulled purple pantyhose over his face as a mask before donning the clothes. The freakishly big man grabbed the coat he was wearing by where the buttons were, and in one easy motion, tore it to shreds. "It looks like, I'll have to take you two down, then go after the truly succulent morsels!" That's when Taki and Daishiro finally put two and two together. This was not a human that the two were dealing with.

The odd white thing sticking out of his chest was a lot bigger than Taki first thought. It extended all the way down to where his short, misshapen legs were. It was quite obviously the beast's head. Bone white and shaped like the skull of some horrific pterodactyl, its eyes burned with a fierce purple malevolence. Obviously, the head-shaped protrusion that sat at the highest point on the creature was just a growth of some sort.

The thing swung a giant hand Taki's direction, which he narrowly ducked, then took a jump backwards out of the creature's reach. Daishiro wasn't so lucky. It struck him clean in the chest with his other fist, sending the big guy flying like a ragdoll. He crashed through the shop's windows and landed in a pile on the sidewalk, sending pedestrians scattering.

"Daishiro-san!" Xia shouted as she ran over to him, afraid he was seriously hurt.

"I'm ok! Taki-san, get out of there! He's way too strong for us!" Daishiro quickly scrambled back up to his feet, apparently ready for round two.

Taki, on the other hand, was quite done trying on this thing. He sidestepped a straight punch from the right hand, then rolled out of the way of an overhand hammer blow from the left that crushed the table all three of them were sitting at. An avenue of escape in front of him, the courier pumped his legs and bailed for the door. As he slammed it open, he was greeted by a familiar face. At least, that's the feeling he got for all of the two seconds he was conscious. He felt some sort of rounded object, maybe like a pipe or baseball bat strike the back of his head and crumpled to the floor. The only thoughts in his head were of some woman shouting "Sekienton!", and of a colorful plastic earring…


End file.
